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Nordstrom Pans for Gold in Canada – Again

U.S. high-end retailer Nordstrom said Thursday it’s opening four stores in Canada, the first in 2014, marking its first foray outside of the U.S.

But Nordstrom already has a tie to Canada.

Founder John W. Nordstrom, a Swedish émigré to the U.S., trekked to Canada’s Yukon Territory to join in the great Klondike Gold Rush. After two years of panning for gold, he saved $13,000 and returned to Seattle, where he partnered with cobbler Carl Wallin to open a shoe store in 1901.

“That is the roots, the foundation, of how we got started,” Blake Nordstrom, company president and the founder’s great-grandson, said at a press conference with future Canadian landlord Cadillac Fairview at the swanky Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto, while unveiling the plans to come to Canada. “A lot has changed over time but the values haven’t.”